


Bloody Murder

by ididntask05



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Detectives, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Original Character(s), Murder, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27559987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ididntask05/pseuds/ididntask05
Summary: Lance wasn't fond of Keith. It may have seemed petty to some, but being inadvertently rejected by his soulmate didn't compel someone to have the fondest of feelings for someone.Keith just wanted to get on with his life and do his job of being a detective, what need did he have for a soulmate?When Keith and Lance are paired together to solve a case, will they sort themselves out and realise that they belong together, or will the stress of their case drive them apart?
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Kudos: 24





	Bloody Murder

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this quite a long time ago so even though I've edited it, it may not be the best.

Lance loved working as a homicide detective, it sounded bizarre when you said it out loud. 'Why would you love seeing dead bodies?' his nephew would always squeal, his cute little nose scrunched up in distaste. Lance would always just laugh it off and explain that he loves the thrill of the mystery. There was only one thing he disliked about his job and that was his colleague, Kieth.

Kieth, in Lance's eyes, wasn't bad looking. He had enchanting amethyst eyes, such a peculiar colour, and ebony hair which grazed his shoulders. Although Lance mocked Kieth's hair daily, he had secretly come to adore it. No, the reason Lance disliked Kieth was that he was the best detective on the force and constantly garnered Captain Shiro's attention. Lance would solve a hard case and then somehow Keith solves a cold case which had been open for 5 years. Lance would arrive upon a scene, only to see Keith brooding in the corner, already piecing together the fact that the murderer was the victim's daughter. All of that seemed trivial, though, when Lance looked at the reason he had begun to dislike Keith. It was the reason that Lance glared at him every time they were in the same room and yet it was also the reason why Lance couldn't ever truly hate the pale boy. Keith openly hated the idea of soulmates and said that if he ever found his soulmate, he would reject them on the spot. It just so happened that Lance was Keith's soulmate. 

* * *

The harsh November wind stirred up orange and brown leaves as Lance walked towards the police station. The top of his ears and nose were a gentle pink as the wind continued to blow, seemingly trying to keep Lance from reaching his job. Like every day, Lance decided to walk to work, he loved the journey. Plus, it gave him time to mentally prepare for a day of riddles and rejection. Keith had never directly rejected Lance, how could he if he didn't know that Lance was his soulmate. However, it still pained Lance to see him every day, not affected at all. Why did his soulmate have to be Keith? This was usual for Lance, every time he was left with his thoughts, his mind strayed to Keith. Stupid Keith. Perfect Keith. Cute Keith. NOPE! Keith wasn't cute. At least not to Lance... He didn't think.

"Good morning Lance!" Hunk, one of Lance's best friends, beamed as Lance took off his cyan scarf by his desk.

"Morning Buddy," Lance replied as he sat down.

Lance didn't waste any time in starting up his computer and finishing the report he started yesterday. Only two days previously, Lance had solved a particularly gruesome murder where two people were found gutted in an alleyway. The murderer turned out to be a 13-year-old girl who had lured them into her trap. She didn't seem apologetic, declaring boldly in her interrogation that all paedophiles should be killed. Whilst Lance agreed that paedophiles were the vermin of this earth, he wouldn't go as far as to kill them. Typing the last few words of his report, Lance let out a long sigh and looked up to the clock. He had been at it for roughly 40 minutes and he already wanted to be back out on the field. Paperwork really was one of the worst parts of the job. Just as Lance was about to get a mug of coffee, he was called into the captain's office by Shiro. As soon as Lance stepped foot into the room, his normal easy-going smile was replaced with a scowl. For in the office stood his soulmate, Keith.

* * *

Keith loved what he did. He loved the thrill of chasing crooks. He loved the feeling of finally cracking a case. He loved watching the men and women who harmed others be put behind bars. Keith did not love the paperwork which came along with it, but if that was what he had to do to keep doing what he loved, he didn't mind too much. Keith had finished a report not too long ago and was sat at his desk staring off into space. He was startled from his daydreaming by a hand being laid upon his shoulder. "My office, please Keith." the owner of the hand, Shiro, said before walking into his office. Keith quickly followed, hoping he had a new case. As Keith walked in Shiro called for Lance to come as well. When it came to Lance, Keith was indifferent. He found the man annoying at times but didn't dislike him. He was confused by him though, for Lance always bore a scowl whenever he was in the same room as Keith. When the two had first met, Lance had looked very excited, for some reason, but as soon as Keith said he had no desire to meet his soulmate Lance's face dropped and he began to act cold. Keith had his suspicions but coming to terms with them was difficult, therefore he remained ignorant to why Lance was so hostile. 

* * *

"I need you two to work on a case together. It's a serial killer who has a graphic calling card and as my best detectives, you two are working on the case." Shiro stated, cutting straight to the point.

Lance opened his mouth to protest, why should he work with _Keith_ of all people, but the look that Shiro gave him immediately made him close his mouth. Keith wasn't all too happy either, he worked best alone, Lance was a goofball who would mess up the entire investigation. However, Keith kept his mouth firmly shut, he knew that any protests that he made would fall on deaf ears. Shiro scrutinised the two men for a minute before dismissing them and handing them a case file. The case would be solved in no time.

"Look, Lance, just keep out of my way, ok? I can solve this on my own." Keith muttered as the two men got a decent distance from the Captain's office. Lance looked at Keith with shock and anger prominent in every one of his angelic features.

"Stay out of your way!" Lance shrieked incredulously. "I'll have you know I am an excellent detective and you'd do well to remember that, _buddy_." Lance hissed, poking Keith aggressively in the chest.

Keith looked at Lance unamused, his usual stoic expression had a hint of annoyance in it. "Fine, but if you mess up the case I'll make your life hell," Keith said back with the same amount of venom.

The two males stared into each other's eyes daring the other to back down, before simultaneously turning around and storming away. "I really thought they were going to kiss." Hunk muttered to Katie 'Pidge' Holt, the cyber crimes detective, as he handed her $10. Pidge simply smirked and adjusted her glasses (which she didn't really need),

"They probably will at some point, with all that sexual tension." she chortled before pocketing the money and getting back to work.

Keith and Lance stood beside each other in the conference room, a stony silence between them. They stared at the graphic crime scene photos with horror in their eyes, neither would admit that the sight before them was unsettling their stomach.

"This is... Disturbing." Lance managed to get out after a considerably long silence. Keith nodded his head in agreement and pulled out his notebook, all thoughts of pushing Lance away and working the case alone had escaped his head. These photos showed that the killer was dangerous.

"The pattern of blood on the wall suggests that the victim was attacked from behind, see here?" Keith asked, pointing to a specific photo which showed a blood-stained wall. Lance nodded his assent and pointed to another photo which showed a widespread picture of the crime scene.

"Nothing of monetary value is missing, we can eliminate a robbery gone wrong from the list of scenarios," he muttered staring intently at the pictures. Keith looked over at Lance and was shocked by what he saw. Sure, he knew Lance was one of Shiro's best detectives, but the look of pure concentration on his face made him look mature, nothing like the goofball Keith was familiar with.

"Right..." Keith whispered looking back at the board.

* * *

A jaunty ringtone echoed around the open space of Keith's studio apartment, its upbeat tone contradicting Keith's current mood. Keith answered his phone, his face painted with a displeased scowl.

"What could you possibly want at-" Keith stopped talking momentarily to check the time on his alarm clock, "2 am. It's way too early for this shit," he grumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Keith, it's Shiro, a call came in an hour ago about a murder. It seems to be your serial killer, I've called Lance, get down to 32 Rexton Avenue ASAP." Shiro tired voice muttered from the other side of the phone.

Keith nodded slowly, forgetting that Shiro couldn't see him, before mumbling "Ok." and hanging up the phone.

Keith got dressed as fast as he could in his sleepy state before leaving his apartment and rushing towards the crime scene. He hoped that Lance actually turned up, he seemed like the sort of person to just ignore urgent situations to sleep. Something Keith wished he was doing at that moment. 

* * *

Lance was pissed. Not only was he awoken from a fantastic dream. But the serial killer thought it would be a _great_ idea to make the crime scene as gruesome as possible. The pictures couldn't compare to the actual horror of standing at the crime scene. The metallic smell of blood was so pungent that Lance could practically taste it. Standing at the crime scene the killers calling card was even worse. Painted along the walls, in the victims own blood, was an eerily realistic picture of the scene. Not only that, but it appeared that the killer had more time with this body as their eyes were missing and their left arm was mutilated. Lance gagged when he first saw the victim's body and it seemed that Keith wasn't doing any better if the disgust on his face was anything to go on.

"Appears to be a young female, roughly in her mid 20's. I think the cause of death was either strangulation or blunt force trauma." Keith said, examining the body carefully.

Lance nodded as he carefully scanned the room and saw a pile of envelopes. "Her name was Eva Faversham." He said, looking down at the envelopes. Lance turned to look at Kieth as he examined the room.

Keith's stomach was thoroughly unsettled. The scene in front of him looked as if it belonged in a cliche horror film. A pool of blood was staining the floorboards beneath the victim's body, with splashes of blood all over the room, as if the victim had been stumbling around for a while. The painting on the wall creeped Keith out the most. He had seen a lot of murder scenes in his day and he can hand on heart say that this is the first time the murderer had decided the paint a painting in their victim's blood. A shiver ran down Keith's spine as he stepped closer to the mural on the wall. It showed a female being pinned down with a large body holding her down. What looked like a knife was clenched in the attacker's hand, it was poised to hit the woman's face. Keith looked back at the hollow eye sockets of the corpse and began to slowly piece together what happened.

* * *

A couple of hours later, both Keith and Lance were stood in front of their case board, freshly updated with crime scene photos and theories. "We'll have to wait for the autopsy, but we can still piece together what happened," Keith mumbled, staring intently at the picture of the gruesome painting.

Lance nodded his head and looked at the painting closely, searching for any sort of clue. "The murderer must have had quite a bit of time after they killed her, to have painted such a detailed painting. Or maybe they painted it whilst she was still alive, bleeding out." Lance suggested, looking to Keith to see what he thought.

Lance's train of thought was lost when he saw Keith's side profile. Keith had an amazing jawline. That jaw could cut ice. "Lance?" Keith asked, his eyes were hard, but Lance thought he saw a tiny bit of concern lurking within them.

"Hmm?" Lance asked, trying his hardest to focus on the task at hand.

Keith sighed heavily before repeating what he had said, "I said that such a detailed painting would probably have been done by an artist. We have quite a prominent art school in the city, maybe someone from there did this. I mean think about it, every single one of these victims was art students. Maybe a jealous artist is studying at the school this year."

Keith's theory made perfect sense to Lance, he wanted to kick himself for not realising before the connection before the man beside him."Makes sense," Lance nodded "Let's pay a visit to Altea School of Art and Design.".

* * *

The two detectives arrived at the art school as fast as they could, eager to wrap up this case. "How do we go about this then?" Keith asked, staring up at the daunting building.

"I don't know, why don't you tell me Mr Best Dectective." Lance sassed, looking Keith in the eyes. Keith looked at Lance bemused, why was he being like this all of a sudden?

Keith sighed "Let's just go in, and interview a few teachers ok?", Lance nodded and began to walk up the stairs to the glass doors of the institute.

As Keith walked up the stairs he saw two students sitting so close they may as well be sat on top of each other. The girl giggled and swooned over the boy beside her. It was clear that they were soulmates. Keith felt a pang to his heart as he watched the two, he wanted that sort of relationship with his soulmate, but he knew he would mess it up.

"Oi! Keith!" Lance yelled from by the doors, snapping Keith out of his trance.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Keith muttered distractedly, rushing up the stairs to meet Lance. As Keith entered the building, Lance looked at him in confusion. What had the stoic man been thinking about? 

Crimson and onyx nails clicked ominously against the headmistress's desk, causing cold shivers to run down Lance's spine.

"So you suspect one of our students may be this elusive murderer?" she asked, eyes narrowed as she looked into the two detective's eyes.

"We can't be 100% sure at present, ma'am, but the murderer seemed to be very proficient at art," Keith answered politely, staring back into the too pale blue eyes of the woman.

"We have pictures of their art, it may help you." Lance offered, breaking his silence. The woman's sharp gaze immediately turned to Lance, she gave a brisk nod of assent, agreeing to see the pictures. Keith reached into his bag and produced the printed photos of the crime scene, selecting the blood painting and sliding it across the oak desk for the headmistress to assess. The three sat in silence, the only noise was the buzzing of the computer's monitor. Lance watched as the headmistress's face paled, her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

"This is horrific. I recognise the art style but I can't put a name to it. I think they may be a student in Class E." she muttered in a choked voice. Lance and Keith thanked her for her help and headed towards the classroom. 

The two men walked side by side in the silent hallways. Lance looked over at his partner and felt the urge to ask a question that had been bugging him since they had first met. Whilst it didn't seem like the most appropriate time ask, Lance could feel the question bubbling in his throat.

"Hey, Keith, " Lance said in a hushed voice, Keith nodded his head in acknowledgement "Why do you hate the idea of soulmates?".

The question took Keith by surprise, what was it to Lance whether he wanted a soulmate or not? Keith pondered for a minute, should he tell him. Something told him to answer truthfully, it was the part of him that knew who Lance _really_ was.

"I'm scared that I'll mess up the relationship and screw up my soulmate's life. I tend to mess up every relationship I'm part of. I've tried to be in quite a few relationships, but I always end up fucking up, I know I'll end up doing the same if I'm with my soulmate." Keith breathed out quietly, trying his hardest not to look at Lance. Lance was taken aback, the reason was such a simple one, as he was about to say something they reached a door marked with a huge 'E'.

* * *

"I'm at your service gentlemen, whatever you need just tell me and I'll get it for you." The young art teacher said quietly so as not to alert the students in the room. The two detectives nodded their heads in unison and began to roam around the room discreetly, looking at everybody's artwork. Lance liked some of these people's artwork, like that girl over there who was painting a really cool fantasy landscape. Or that boy with his hyper-realistic portrait. They were so talented, but this wasn't the time for admiring artwork, it was time to locate a potential psychopath.

Keith lurked in the shadows of the open studio, the smell of paint and oil bringing up memories that Keith would rather keep hidden. It was Keith's greatest secret that he was once a buddy artist, having sold a few pieces. Nobody could know, it could potentially ruin his whole 'vibe' as he liked to put it. Keith's eyes swept the room, quickly taking in the details of every piece of artwork his eyes landed on.

After roughly 5 minutes of lurking around the room, observing people's work, Keith saw something which caused him to stop rather suddenly. The painting was... unique to say the least. It was painted in deep shades of red and black, creating a grotesque picture of monsters and bodies. You'd think people may suspect something with how gruesome the painting was. Bodies writhed in pain whilst dark beasts prowled around. Blood burst from bodies like sprinklers. Nobody would suspect a thing if you said your art style was centred around horror. Keith quietly called Lance over and pointed towards the girl who stood in front of the canvas. Her head titled in consideration. Lance took one look at the artwork and immediately came to the same conclusion as Keith.

'We've found our suspect' they thought in unison.

For the remainder of the lesson, the two men observed the female and her art. Her art style was realistic and yet had a fantasy element. It seemed as if they had found their culprit, however, they couldn't march up to her and arrest her without any evidence. When the lesson ended Lance asked the teacher for the woman's name whilst Keith observed her pack away her supplies.

"Oh, that girl over there. Her name is Jasmine White. She is a very secluded person, doesn't speak to her classmates all that much." Lance thanked the teacher before turning around to talk to Keith.

"Should we head back to the station and see what evidence there is from the crime scene?" He asked, snapping Keith from his reverie.

Keith shook his head and asked, "What was her name?" 

"Jasmine White, why?". Keith nodded his head slowly and made his way over to the suspect.

Lance couldn't hear what they were saying but Keith seemed to be pointing at Jasmine's bag then her artwork. He seemed to be speaking passionately, he smiled and walked back over to Lance, his usual scowl on his face. Lance looked at him, bemused, "I'm going to the bar with her at 6 pm. You'll tail us whilst I subtly interrogate her, she may try to kill me but it doesn't seem like a high possibility." Keith explained as they left the art institute.

Lance was even more confused. "Why would you take that course of action? Surely we should wait for evidence, is this against the law?" Lance fretted as he got into the passenger seat of Keith's car.

"I have a gut feeling and I always follow my instincts, it won't matter if it's wrong when we arrest her tonight." Keith declared boldly. Lance was starting to think twice about Keith.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, Keith your hilarious." Jasmine White laughed, hitting Keith's arm with her hand. Keith smiles awkwardly and scratched his neck in feigned awkwardness, he looked at the brunette girl and chuckled lightly.

"You're exaggerating, I'm not all that funny," Keith replies humbly, taking a sip of his Coca Cola and looking into Jasmine's crystal blue eyes. Jasmine smiled back at Keith, it looked kind enough but there was a gleam in her eyes which was malicious and bloodthirsty.

Lance watched from afar, he sipped his lemonade, glaring at the girls back. He didn't like the way she was flirting with Keith. He was Lance's not... He shouldn't be thinking this way. Lance shook his head in dismay and watched as Keith and Jasmine left the bar, he rose from his seat and followed them out.

Keith walked behind Jasmine, following her into an alleyway behind the bar. He adjusted his gun, making sure it was concealed in his jacket. He took a glance behind him and saw Lance exiting the bar. Good. Keith followed Jasmine further into the shadows, it became so dark that Keith could barely see her. Jasmine came to an abrupt stop before turning around to look at Keith. In the limited light, her once bright eyes looked dark and clouded with bloodlust.

"So Keith..." she stroked his chest and whispered in what could only be described as a sultry tone. Keith felt a shiver run down his back, he was uncomfortable. In a blink of an eye, Jasmine had Keith pinned to the alley wall, a wickedly sharp knife held at his throat. "How would yah like to die?".

Lance watched as that bitch stroked Keith's chest, he bristled with anger and restrained himself from running over to them and ripping him from her. Who knew he would ever feel this way for Keith? Probably Pidge. Lance came back to the present when he heard someone being slammed against the wall. His head snapped up to see Keith being held at knifepoint, his eyes widened in alarm. What was he supposed to do, this wasn't part of the plan.

"How would yah like to die?" Lance heard Jasmine laugh into Keith's ear.

Keith's eyes widen with fear, causing Jasmine to laugh psychotically, "I love it when they get that look in their eyes. That fear. Like last night, her eyes were so perfect, why I just had to have them." she cackled maniacally and moved the knife closer to Keith's neck.

Lance decided this was probably a good time to intervene. "Ma'am step away and put the knife on the floor," Lance shouted, pointing his gun at Jasmine's head. She turned around in surprise and looked at Lance with wide eyes. Keith took the opportunity to tackle the young woman and pin her to the ground.

"Took you long enough to actually do something!" Keith's words were harsh but his tone betrayed the fear which he had felt. 

It seemed as if everything was going smoothly until Jasmine decided to try and escape. Lance and Keith were walking her back to the car when she pulled a knife and attacked. She leapt towards Lance, murder in her eyes. She stabbed him in the stomach, driving the knife deep before laughing and turning to a shocked Keith. She lurched forward aiming for his heart. Keith instinctively grabbed her wrist and pivoted, slamming her into the floor and disarming her simultaneously. She must have hit the ground harder than he had intended for her too because she was out like a light. Keith handcuffed her quickly before rushing over to Lance and putting pressure on the profusely bleeding wound.

Blood sprayed from between his fingers, coating his top and hands. The metallic smell was all too familiar to Keith. He fumbled for his phone and called an ambulance and the police for backup. Both came whizzing around the corner within minutes. Their sirens echoed in the eerily silent street and their blue lights flashed on the decrepit looking walls. 

* * *

Keith didn't leave Lance's side for two days. In those two days, Lance was in a comatose state. It pained Keith to see his partner's condition, he just wished he would wake up. It seemed that whatever deity there was decided to have mercy on poor Keith because on the third day of Lance's coma he began to wake up. 

Lance slowly blinked, the white light that surrounded him was blinding. Was he dead? No, it didn't seem like it, Lance didn't think that the afterlife would smell like a hospital. Lance tried to fight off his drowsiness and sit up but he was stopped by a sharp pain in his gut which caused him to cry out. As soon as his shout of pain left his lips, Keith was by his side, looking down at him with relief in his eyes.

"Thank goodness!" Keith cried, pulling Lance in for a gentle hug. "I thought I had lost you." he whispered into Lance's ear.

Lance laughed quietly, clutching his side to ease the pain, "Can't get rid of me that easily." he murmured, stroking Keith's hair, not thinking about the implications and repercussions of this action. Keith's face turned crimson in shock. He wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words.

"You know we're soulmates, right?" Lance muttered into Keith's silky mullet, Keith hummed quietly.

"Are you mad?" Lance queried, keeping the same tired and quiet voice.

Keith shook his head "I'm glad it was you, for some reason." he replied, smiling slightly. Lance simply shook his head with a gentle smile. He couldn't wait to see what their future held.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I didn't want to rush their relationship since it wouldn't be realistic and I wanted to maintain a semblance of realism. Anyway, thank you once again and I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.


End file.
